HEALING

Wendy Moore: Wrestling Lou Gehrig

By Peter Bustetter and Lisa RyanThe 700 Club

CBN.com
 "My kids growing up not [remembering me] was the hardest thing for me to deal with," Wendy says.

"They told Wendy she had two to five years left to live,"
Steve says.

Wendy and Steve Moore were living out their dreams. They both had exciting careers. Steve as a sheriff’s deputy and Wendy as a 911 operator and an emergency medical technician. Their young family was growing as they celebrated the birth of their youngest son, Zackery.

What started off as a strange weakness in Wendy’s legs was eventually diagnosed as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, destroys motor nerves and leaves the body in a state of paralysis. No one survives this deadly disease. Wendy and Steve’s dreams for the future quickly turned into a nightmare.

"You know you suffocate to death," Wendy says. "It’s a horrible death. I didn’t want to go through that. I take care of other people. That’s my job. Now somebody’s job is to take care of me."

Life changed that day for the whole Moore family.

"It was like a living funeral," Steve says. "We tried to put it aside but we could never just put it behind us."

Wendy’s parents remember their shock after hearing the diagnosis.

"I knew exactly what ALS was when they gave us that diagnosis, however I was numb to what they were saying," Wendy's father says. "I have a cousin whose wife died of ALS, and it was horrific."

Wendy's mother says, "She just said, 'Mom, I don’t know if i am going to see Jake go to school -- if I am going to see Zacky graduate.' Those are things that were in her mind. That would bring on more tears."

Wendy’s Aunt Jan knew that the only hope for the family was the power of God’s Word. She suggested a class on healing.

"I called my brother and told him," says Jan. "I said, 'You have to go to these classes. Wendy will be healed.'"

It is at Dayspring Ministries where Wendy and her family learned the healing promises of the Bible. It gave them the strength to press on.

"We all went together to the Bible class," Wendy recalls. "I learned things like God’s Word is life to whoever finds it and health to all their flesh." As a result, Wendy threw away all her pamphlets on ALS and everything else that she determined she didn't need to hear. In place of all her ALS information, she placed Bible verses everywhere.

"We had scriptures posted all over the our house," she says. "That was my daily dose of medication."

Wendy’s mother also knew they were going to need the support of other believers to fight this battle.

"I called The 700 Club and several other ministries," says Wendy's mother. "We have relatives all over the United States, and we sent e-mails all over, asking them to pray with us and believe that Wendy would be healed.

Wendy and her family chose not to let the doctor's reports affect them negatively.

"My aunt always told me that you can’t be moved by what they say," Wendy says. "You can listen to what they say but you can’t be moved by that. You have to be moved by what the Word of God says, and the Word of God says by his strips you are healed."

Wendy and her family pressed on. They tried to live a “normal” life and believed that God was going to heal her. Wendy even decided to go back to her job as 911 operator.

"My muscles would twitch but they weren’t twitching quite as often anymore," Wendy says. "What I noticed the most was the falling. I wasn’t tripping as much as I normally did."

Wendy’s doctors at the University of Michigan couldn’t understand why her condition wasn’t getting worse. So they asked her to go through more testing.

"And we walked into the room and Wendy was sobbing," her dad says. "She was literally sobbing with her head in her hands. She said, 'I no longer have ALS.' That’s exactly what we had been praying for."

The doctors told Wendy that there was no nerve death. Something happened because they could see some nerve damage. The final doctors’ report declared Wendy Moore free of Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

"It is just an overwhelming feeling to have been told that someday you will die and now the doctors say this is gone," Wendy says. "Yet I knew in my spirit the whole time that would be the outcome."

Wendy’s aunt knows that God listens and answers the prayers of believers.

"I just see how much He loved us," Jan says. "He died on the cross, and He took our sickness and our diseases. I am just so thankful that He is God."

Today Wendy and Steve are enjoying the life they thought they’d never have. They are once again dreaming of a future filled with the hope that Jesus Christ gives them.

"Now it’s a family again," Steve says. "It's not just me with the kids. It's all of us."

"Everyday I wake up and thank God for today," Wendy says. "I am almost thankful I’ve gone through what I have because [I am] able to tell you and the whole world that God’s healing power is still for today."